West Virginia announces $147 million plan for new expressway connection
WELCH, W.Va. (AP) — Gov. Jim Justice visited the site of a planned $147 million highway project that will connect Welch to the Coalfields Expressway.
The five-mile stretch of highway is expected to be completed in 2026.
"This announcement today means we are one step closer to bringing this area of West Virginia to the world once and for all," Justice said in a media release. "We have waited and waited in southern West Virginia for way too long."
Justice announced Friday that Bizzack Construction of Lexington, Kentucky, won the bid to build the new highway.
The governor's office said plans are in the works to build a five-mile stretch of the Coalfields Expressway from Mullens to Twin Falls State Park, and a three-mile link from Twin Falls toward Pineville.
The four-lane Coalfields Expressway that runs from Raleigh County to Wyoming County opened in 2020.